Cigar-bunching machine



March 19311 W. H. SCHUSSLER GIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE Fiied Oct. 19, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l uvmvron W/u rm. .5 c/luss LEI? t lv ATTORNEYS M61611 1931- w. H. SCHUSSLER CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1927 INVENTOI? Mu TEA M5 C/ll/SSLER 2,; M r to; ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 31, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER H. SOHUSSLER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE SCHUSSLER TOBACCO MACHINE CO. INC., 01? PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA CIGAR-BUNCHING MACHINE automatic machines for performing the operation known in the art to which this invention relates as cigar bunching.

Considered more specifically, the present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon the machine disclosed in my co-pending application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 155,790, filed December 20, 1926. In the said application I have disclosed an automatic cigar bunching machine in wnich the filler tobacco that is made into the cigar bunch by the machine may be fed in two separate streams to the machine. The machine of the aforesaid application is provided at the front of the feeding end thereof with a single cutting knife for each feeding belt, which knife is actuated by the feeding operator to cut the tobacco into the desired lengths. The present invention relates to improvements in the arrangement of the cutting knives, the object of such improvements being to reduce to .a minimum extent the amount of handling of the tobaccoby the feeding operator and to reduce to the simplest possible extent the manual operations or motions performed by the feeding operator.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the cutting mechanism that danger or injury to the operator by the cutting knives is practically entirely obviated.

Another obj ect is to provide a new and improved construction for a tobacco guiding means placed adjacent to the cutting mechanism and the front end of the tobacco feeding belts, which guiding means form, in effect, a hopper into which the tobacco is placed by the operator and which is so constructed that it will tend to cause the operator instinctively to feed the tobacco to the belts at the proper rate.

Another object is to so construct the guiding means that bunching up of the tobacco upon the belts will be prevented. These and other objects such as provision of means to assist in straightening the tobacco upon the feeding belts, adjustability of the cutting knives, and the improvement to the construction in detail will appear more fully from the following more detailed description and byreference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof wherein Fig. l is a plan View of the front of the feeding end of a cigar bunching machine and Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are sections on the lines 22, 3-8, of Fig. land 4 -4 of Fig. 2.

The plan View, Fig. 1, represents the front end of a cigar bunohing machine of the type shown in my aforementioned patent application, said machine consists of a pair of feeding belts which terminate at their front ends adjacent to a feeding table 11 upon which a supply of filler tobacco is placed. A feeding operator stationed in front ofthe table 11 takes the filler tobacco from the supply and pushes it on to the feeding belt, the tobacco being carried by the latter to a plu-- rality of automatically operated devices which form the tobacco into cigar bunches of the desired shape and size. These auto matic devices are not shown in the drawing as the constructions thereof form no part of the present invention. Before the operator pushes the tobacco upon the feeding belts said tobacco is cut to the desired lengths by means of a cutting knife or knives arranged at the front end of the belts. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a pair of knives 12 are provided for each belt,

one at each side of said belt. The knives 12' are pivotally mounted upon the side guide rails 13 for each belt, which guide rails are adapted to be adjusted transversely of the belt according to the length of the cigars which are to be made by the cigar bunching machine. The pivotal mounting for each knife consists of a lug 13a projecting upwardly from its respective rail 13 and through which a pivot pin 14: passes. The pivot pin 14 projects laterally from a bracket 15 to which the knife 12 is detachably secured. The bracket 15 has a rearwardly extending tail or extension to which is pivotally connected the upper end of a connecting link 16. The lower end of said link is pivotally mounted upon a rod 17 which extends transversely across the entire width of the machine. The outer extremities of the rod 17 are received within the frontends of a pair of swinging levers l8 which-levers are pivotally mounted upon a transverse rod 19 which passes through the side frames 20 of'the ma chine. Pivotally connected at its upper end tothe rod 1"? is an actuatinglink 21, the lower end of which is piv-otall-y connected to. an operating treadle 22, the latter being pivotally mounted upon a platform 28. A coil tension spring 24 is provided andrha-sdtsends connected with the treadle 22 and platform 23 for the purpose of holding the treadle and the knives 12 normally in their upper or inoperative position.

Each knife 12 is adapted to cooperate with a stationary knife 25' set into a small. shelf or table 2% located at each side of and above the feeding; belts 1 0, the shelf 26 serving to.

collect the cuttings or trimmings from the knives. The knives are held, by means of a spring 27;, with a frictional contact against the action of' the cuttingedgesof the stationary knives 25, the spring 27 being confined between the outer face of the boss 13a and a nut or washer 28 secured to the pivot pin 14 of each knife.

For the purpose. of providing greater safety and minimizing the danger of; injury to the operator by the cutting knives, each knife has secured thereto a sheath plate 29", the lower end: of which projects slightly below the cutting edge of the blade 12 and on the side of the knife opposite to thestationary cutting blade 25. A. guard member 30 is also provided for each knife and'ea'ch guardmember is pivotally mounted in a bracket 31. The four brackets 31, one for each knife, are mounted for transverse adjustment upon across bar 32. which cross bar is secured to a knee bracket 33' located centrally of the machine. Each guard member 30 is adapted to rest upon the respective stationary cutting blade 25 for its knife 12 and isprovided at its front end with an inwardly extendi'ng'fiange 3041.; the flange 30w lying a short distance forwardly of the path of movement of, the front endof its respective cutting blade. 12 in such a manner as to prevent the operator from striking her hands against the' sharp front ends of the cutting knives. Provision. is made for adjusting the guards 30 transversely of the machine. For this purpose the brackets 31 are provided with. elongated slots 31a through which slots extend the screws 316 by means of which the brackets 31' are secured to the cross bar 32.

It' will be noted by referring to Fig: 2 of the drawingthat the guards 30 have their front ends curved so that when the operator pushes a bunch of tobacco in towards the cut ting knives, the tobacco-will engage under the front ends of the guards and raise them out of contact with the stationary blades 25-. The

curved front end of the guard merges into an upwardly inclined edge of said guard and after the bunch of tobacco has been moved into contact with the cutting edges of the blades: 12 the guards 30wil l again drop into contact with the blade and will tend to prevent-the tobacco from moving rearwardly as the cutting, blades are actuated to perform a cutting stroke- The guiding means which form a. hopper for each belt 10 at the frontend thereof, consists of a pair. of plates 35 secured at their front ends to the lower edge of the table 11; said plates are; provided with elongated slots through which pass the screws 36 which serve to secure the plates tothe table. The elongated slots serve topermit adjustment of the plates transversely of the machine to accommodatefor'diff'erent settings ofthe machines- The plates are made of such width that openings' 37' are formed between the members of each pair of plates and also between the side edges of the plates and the stationary knife blades 25; These openings serve to. permit adjustment of the plates transversely of themachine and also serve to: permit short pieces of tobacco tofal'l down througli. said openings upon the belts 10, which belts,.it will be noted, from Fig. 2, extend beneath said: plates. The plates 35, for the major portion of their length, extend to a point locatedi substantially belowthat part of the cutting edges of the blades 12130 which the operator will normally place the tobacco in: feeding the, same to the cutting knives. From this: point the. plates 35 curve downwardly and terminate slightly above the feedingbelts 10; Located. above the plates 35 is a plurality of curved; guiding fingers 38*, which fingers, it will be noted by referring to Fig; 2: of the; drawing, form with the plates 35: atrough or hopper, the cross. sectional area of which decreasesgradnally from the point. at which the. tobaccois introduced to: the termination of the trough adjacent. to the feed belts 10, each. guiding finger 38 is secured as by means of the screws 38a. to. the cross bar 32..

Clamped between the brackets 31 and the crossbar 323 is a plurality of small brackets 39, said brackets being provided with apertures through which. pass the screws- 31a which secure the brackets: 31 to-the said cross bar. Eachbracket 39=is formed with a pair of yoke jaws 39abetween which is seated the upper end of a: tobaccostraightening member 40. The member i0 is pivotally mounted I upon a pin 41 which passes through the. jaws 3900 and the lower ends of said member terminateradiacent. to the fieeding belt 10. One

member is provided for each finger 38 and is located in vertical alignment with said finger. A short distance from its lower end each member 40 rests upon the lower free end of its respective-finger. 38,. the. finger 38 serving to hold the lower end of the member 40- spaced a short distance above its respective belt 10.

The manner in which the parts function is as follows: The operator takes a bunch of tobacco from the supply thereof upon the table 11 and pushes the same forwardly over the horizontal portion of the plates 35. Such portions of the bunch as project over upon the stationary cutting blades will pass under the front curved end of the guards and as the guards are relatively light in weight they are moved upwardly about their pivotal connection with the brackets 31. When the bunch of tobacco has been moved to the position indicated by the bunch B in Fig. 2 of the drawings and in contact with the cutting edges of the knife blades the treadle 22 is depressed to cause the knife blades to perform a cutting stroke.

It is not necessary for the operator to hold the bunch of tobacco while the knives are performing their cutting stroke because of the fact that the guards 30 will drop down into contact with the stationary blades 25 and the lower inclined edges of the guards will serve to exert a sufficient pressure or reaction against the tobacco to hold the bunch to the cutting blades as they perform their cutting stroke. As the operator depresses the pedal and, during the time the knives are performing their cutting stroke, the operator grasps another bunch of tobacco and moves it into position to be pushed to the cutting blades. As the last mentioned bunch of tobacco is thrust into the blades it will force the tobacco cut by the preceding operation of the blades into the downwardly extending portion of the trough formed between the plates and the fingers 38. Obviously the feeding operation is maintained substantially continuous and as the tobacco passes down upon the belt 10 it will be confined between the members 4.0 and the feeding belts. The members exert a relatively light pressure upon the tobacco but which pressure is sufiicient to cause any pieces of tobacco which do not he substantially perpendicular to the side edges of the belt to be straightened out and brought to the desired perpendicular position. Any short pieces of tobacco which fall through the openings 37 provided between the plates 35 are carried forwardly by the belts to mingle with the tobacco which passes through the trough formed between the plates 35 and fingers 38.

It will be seen that the plates 29 and guards 30 serve to prevent the operator from accidentally placing her hands in a posit on such that they will come into contact with. the sharp cutting edges of the cutting kmves either during the time that the knives are performing their cutting strokes or during the time the knives are stationary. The trough defined between the plates 35 and the fingers 38 is so constructed that if the operator should tend to feed the tobacco to the machine too fast so that there would be danger of choking the parts of the machine which perform the cigar bunching operation automatically, the tobacco will tend to choke or clog in the said trough and, on the other hand, should the operator not feed the tobacco fast enough or should not distribute the tobacco properly there will be a looseness or space which would be made apparent by the feel of the tobacco as the operator is feeding it to the machine. The construction of the trough is such that a deficiency in the amount of the tobacco being fed can be very readily determined by an operator after but a short amount of experience in feeding the machine so that after an operator has been feeding a machine a short time she will instinctively feed the tobacco at just the proper rate to the machine, immediately supplying any deficiency made evident to the operators sense of touch or decreasing the rate of feed should there be the tendency of the tobacco to choke within the trough.

The members 40, in addition to serving as straightening the fingers, also serve to prevent the tobacco from bulging up as it leaves the feeding trough.

It will be understood that While the parts 2 shown in the drawings illustrate a constructional example which has operated satisfactorily in carrying out the principles of my invention such principles are not limited to the exact constructional details of the parts as shown but that many changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a cigar bunching machine, a feed belt by which the tobacco is fed to the machine, a cutting knife, a co-operating stationary blade at the front end of said belt, and a guard member for said knife pivotally mounted closely adjacent to one side of said knife and projecting forwardly of the cutting edge of said blade, said guard member resting by its own Weight upon said stationary blade and being adapted to be raised by the tobacco as it is fed by the operator to the cutting position and to engage said tobacco and hold it against the cutting edge of said blade while the latter is performing a cutting stroke.

2. In a cigar bunching machine, a feed belt to which the filler tobacco is fed by an operator, side rails at the sides-of said belt adjustable to different positions transversely of said belt for setting the machine to produce cigar bunches of different lengths, and a pair of cutting blades, one for each side of the belt carried by said side rails and adjustable therewith.

3. Ina cigar bunching machine, a feed belt to which the tobacco is fed, and a plurality of members located at the front end of said belt, said membersbeing arranged in spaced vertical relationship to form upper and lower guides which. define a hopper, the crossseetional area of w-hich decreases gradually from its entrance to its delivery end,the

. delivery end being located closely adjacent to said feed belt.

4. In a cigar bunchingmachine, a feed belt to which the tobacco is fed, atable located above, and forwardly of, said belt, and a plurality of upper and lower tobacco guiding members arranged between said table and belt and forming-a hopper having a substantiallyhorizontal portion adjacent the end of said table and a downwardly inclined portionterminating. adjacent to said belt, the crossisectional area of said hopper decreasing gradually bet-ween said table and said belt.

5. A cigar bunching machine as set forthin clain-r l in which the lower tobacco guiding members consist of a plurality of plates ad justable transversely relatively to said belt and the upper tobacco guiding members consist of a plurality of fingers also adjustable transversely relatively to said belt.

6.. In. a: cigarbunching machine,a feed belt to which the tobacco is fed, a plurality of upper and lower tobacco guiding members arranged at the entrance end of said belt to form a hopper and a plurality of tobacco straightening lingers located adjacent to the delivery'end of said liopper, said fingers being pivotally mounted above said: belt and having theirlower ends freely: suspended a short distance above said belt for engaging and straightening the tobacco carried thereby.

7. A cigar bunching machine as set forth in claim 6 in which the tobacco straightening lingers are adapted to rest by gravity upon the upper guidingmembers and to be held thereby in properly spaced relationship to said belt.

8. In a cigar bunching machine, a feed beltand a table at the entrance end of said belt, a pair of cutting knives, one at each side of said belt, a plurality of guiding members over which the tobacco is fed arranged between said knives and forming an extension of said table, said members having a substantially horizontal portion forming an extension of 5 said table and'terminating adjacent to the effective cutting portions of the cutting knives, and a pair of knife guards, one for each knife, said guards being adapted to drop behind a bunch of tobacco fed to the knives and hold said bunch to the cutting edges of said knives as they perform a cutting stroke.

9. In a cigar bnnching machine, a cutting knife for trimming the ends of the filler tobacco preparatory to introducing it into the machine, and a guard member located on one side of said knife adjacent to the cutting ec ge thereof, said guard member having a laterally projecting flange which extends across thespaee in front of said cutting edge and; being pivotally mounted for free movemy hand.

lVALTER H. SCHUSSLER. 

